to janice, sunil, char n steph.

So I don’t know who reads this thing anymore… I guess the people I’m targeting is Janice, steph, char and sunil. But I really wanted to talk to someone – I know you all are growing and I wanted to show you that the growth never stops. 

I know I’m really different from people, and I think it comes in the way that I think and act. I always know what I am going to do. Decisions aren’t hard for me, there is always a black and a white. But for others, there is a lot of gray. And you guys gotta know that there is so much gray in this world. KEEP YOUR CONSCIENCE. Don’t go out to party when you know you have a midterm tomorrow. Don’t play DoTA with your roommates just cuz they’re asking when you’re really tired and you want to sleep.

And make good sacrifices.

But sleeping at weird hours of the day and not being able to wake up for your classes isn’t a good sacrifice. Studying for a midterm instead of going out is a good sacrifice.

But so is going out to your best friend’s birthday dinner even though you do have a midterm tomorrow.
Study ahead.
Control yourself. Know your limits and do what you know is right.

At the same time, spend time with the people you care about.
Don’t try to put your eggs in too many different baskets.
You don’t need to be friends with the whole world
You don’t need crazy plans every single weekend.

Nothing you should do should be a waste of time.
If it’s a waste of time don’t do it.
But playing video games with your roommates is roommate bonding.
Playing video games for 10 hrs with your roommates… is no longer roommate bonding.

Know who you are.
Know your limits.
Know what you’re here for.

As JT and Madonna say… “you only got four … [years] to save the world.”

Lessons Learned

Everyone knows that finals teach you a lot.

Often times, they finally force you to get off your ass and read a variety of textbooks that you own but haven’t really touched.

This is usually not the case for me, but I know for a fact I’ve learned so much from finals studying.

1. nothing feels more like home than a bunch of sleep-deprived college students awaiting a final at 7am.
2. no matter what… circle k is always there for you.
3.  life would be miserable (esp finals week) without friends.

Changes

We gotta start makin' changes

Learn to see me as a [sister] instead of two different strangers

"compassion is the realization of the interdependency of mankind"

New Years Resolutions

1. No regrets.
      Collorary to it: Anything less than my best isn't good enough.

2. Strength of faith.

"A Caffeinating Experience"

BLOG ENTRY from altbreaksfstyle.blogspot.com -- posted December 19, 2007.

Hi everyone! I'm Sarah Bana and I'm a 2nd year Econ major at UCI. This is my first time doing Alternative Break and I have really enjoyed the experience so far.

Yesterday, we left our hostel at 6:40am in the rain to serve! We went to the Glide Memorial Church a few blocks away from our hostel, still in the Tenderloin, to serve breakfast. Glide Memorial Church is the ONLY place in San Francisco that serves 3 meals a day, every day of the year. Everyone knows about the Glide tradition, and for breakfast that morning, we served around 400 people with a hot breakfast of oatmeal, cottage cheese, fruit, bread, pastries and coffee. Many of us were putting the food on the trays, which was an unique experience because of the regimented way we learned to serve. I put napkins on every tray and the Glide employee, Maurine piled on the oatmeal as my friend Delia loaded on the cottage cheese, Stephanie added a banana, and Anna complimented the meal with a pastry. We got a feel for the audience we were serving and helped clean up the area for the next meal.

Later in the day, we had the opportunity to serve meals again at Glide - this time with different jobs. Since there were a lot of volunteers for dinner (a college from Ohio was also on their alt break and was working with us), there wasn't as much to do for each individual. I got to work "on the floor" this time, and refilled the coffee pitchers for every table. It was really fun, serving all these people with something I certainly enjoy drinking. It was kinda funny because one man asked me for a few extra packets of sugar. I found some sugar that no one was using and gave it to him, saying "I like my coffee sweetened too!" He chuckled and asked me how much coffee I drink regularly. I told him that I usually got a cup every morning before school. We spoke for a few minutes and we shook hands - his name is Oscar. Oscar asked me where I went to school and I responded, UC Irvine. He pointed to his head, and asked me if I was smart. I chuckled, and he told me "you can do anything and you will succeed."

"You can do anything and you will succeed."

This confidence in my thoughts, my actions... confidence in me gave me a lot of confidence in him. Oscar had showed me that it doesn't take wealth to make someone's day. It takes a good heart and a good outlook on life despite extenuating circumstances.

Oscar is just like me. He likes his coffee sweetened and he drinks a lot of it. He taught me that homeless people are like everyone else... just people. And this week, we're learning to bring warmth to them- both personally and with coffee